DON EARMAN PORTABLE

This design is reminiscent of high-end portable designs such as the Chord Mojo, and it serves to reduce noise introduced by the source. The Donald DAC features two power inputs via USB-C, one that also supports data and one that supports pure power. Supported Formats: PCM 384kHz/32bit, DSD256, DXD, MQA Rendering You can read more about the Donald DAC on Auris’ website and purchase one for yourself here. The adorably named Donald DAC is one of their most approachable products, coming in at $100 USD and sitting squarely in the budget DAC category. By leveraging great industry experience, Auris have successfully diluted the price without diminishing the experience. The off-shoot of the brand also serves as the US branch of the company in order to ensure greater communication with their main consumers alongside better support. Yet, where most companies start low and work their way up the price tier, Auris has taken the opposite approach with Earmen consisting of purely portable, value-focused products. Miki is the brains behind the operation, a passionate audiophile with heaps of experience hand-crafting multi-thousand dollar desktop amplifiers in Europe. You might not be familiar with Earmen besides a handful of articles on the net, however, the company has deep-rooted heritage from its parent company, Auris. The Donald comes into its element with regards to the overall package, sporting an appealing design and natural, refined sound with clean transients. Slightly woolly bass, Resolution isn’t the highest in its class, Limited inputs

Excellent value overall, Coherent presentation with clean transients, Resolving midrange

Don earman